Biker in a pine forest

Geocaching and GPS crosswords take you back to nature

Geocaching is a form of orienteering treasure hunt, while GPS crosswords are a form of team orienteering. Both make use of global positioning technology.

People are geo-caching in countries all over the world. More than 1,500 caching treasures are hidden in Estonia, from coins to toys and all sorts of other souvenirs, and all of them have been left for others to discover by fellow geocaching enthusiasts.

Geocaching has given rise to a large number of other games in which tasks must be fulfilled and puzzles solved in order to find the treasure while orienteering by means of GPS. One such game, invented by Estonians, is GPS crosswords, where teamwork, an awareness of nature, general knowledge, and quick-thinking play important roles. Another game that has been devised by Estonians is Loquiz, a team strategy game and landscape quiz which is played using a tablet.

How does geocaching work?

You can go geocaching at any time of the year, regardless of the weather: treasure-hunting is just as fun in summer as it is in mid-winter, under a thick blanket of snow. Make sure that you have your treasure map and GPS device with you (and a camera to prove that you found what you were looking for!) and off you go... Bear in mind that some of the treasures may be hidden in places that are hard to get to (up a tree, for example, or underwater), so if you’re in good shape physically and have some extra equipment with you, so much the better!